The Two Georgias found a common goal

Sunday

Dec 26, 2010 at 11:13 PM

ATLANTA - Probably the week after James Oglethorpe landed on Yamacraw Bluff to found the colony in 1733, the debate over the "two Georgias" was heating up.

Ever since, people in one part of the state have clashed with people in the rest over who gets government resources. The fault lines usually put metro Atlanta on opposite sides from the rest of Georgia. One of the latest examples has to do with water.

Recently, an issue has arisen that draws the two factions uncharacteristically together: deepening the Savannah River channel.

It takes little imagination to understand why south Georgia cities, especially Savannah, would be eager for the state and federal taxpayers to plow another 6 feet deeper into the river. They want to attract bigger cargo ships and all the jobs required to process their freight.

What's less obvious is the reason Atlanta leaders are investing their time and resources to lobby for the deepening money.

Call it coincidence, or at the very least, call it the convergence of mutual interests.

Savannah leaders realized that with a Democrat in the White House and Republicans in the governor's mansion and both U.S. Senate seats they could benefit from friends in the Democratic Party. They began making overtures across "enemy lines" to Atlanta mayor Kasim Reed as soon as he was settled into office.

Reed is bright, young and considered a rising star in the Democratic Party. Indeed, he was a good choice because he was able to secure a White House meeting with senior budget advisers in October.

A lawyer by training, Reed spent time in the General Assembly where he learned the importance of coalitions, leaving him open to entreaties from the other Georgia. Besides, Reed has set a goal of making Atlanta into the logistics hub of the hemisphere.

Having the world's busiest passenger airport gives him a good start. Tying to the nation's fastest growing container port in Savannah gives him the cargo to move through the hub.

So, Reed has ample reason to support south Georgia's top priority.

Leaders in Sandy Springs showcased their ties to the deepening this fall during an "international gala" sponsored by the local chamber of commerce. They note that shipping giant UPS is headquartered there, along with the colossal importer Home Depot and the colossal poultry exporter AJC International.

People in Sandy Springs and other parts of north Georgia are saying aloud that the ports are the state's largest job generator.

According to estimates by the University of Georgia's Selig Center for Economic Growth, Georgia's ports are responsible for nearly 400,000 jobs spread across every county of the state. The bulk of those jobs fall in the counties nearest the port, where distribution centers process the cargo. They also cluster in manufacturing centers like Augusta and Dalton, and in the headquarter cities such as Atlanta and Sandy Springs.

Yet, there is still another, less direct, reason some metro Atlanta leaders are helping south Georgia in this. They're hoping to build a little good will.

Even though the political balance has clearly shifted to north Georgia, leaders there know they're going to need all the allies they can get in trying to reach two of their major, civic goals.

Metro Atlanta needs water and money for transportation. The water has to come from somewhere, and south Georgia is a likely donor. The transportation money, for highways and passenger rail, will require a broad political coalition to secure.

Atlanta business leaders have come to recognize in recent years how dangerous the two Georgia's bickering is and have tried to build some bridges. Supporting south Georgia's desire for $600 million to dredge up some mud furthers that strategy.

If deals are sealed when every party sees a benefit, then the Savannah Harbor Expansion Project may be the prototype. The question is whether all of this new-found cooperation will smooth over old scars and lead to any other deals between the two Georgias.

Walter Jones is the Atlanta bureau chief for Morris News. He covered his first political campaigns in 1976 and has been covering state government since 1998. He can be reached at walter.jones@morris.com, 404-589-8424 or MorrisNews on Twitter.